TRAVELLER (Book 1 in the Brass Pendant Trilogy) by Amanda May Bell
Authors: Amanda May Bell
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You will mix with the Tournament Champions after the ceremony because the people will expect it, and you will not cause any heart ache for your father. He looks forward to this particular ceremony above all others every turn and it will be spoilt for him if you are seen to have no time for those he himself holds in the highest regard. Some of those who will be present tonight were supervised personally by your father throughout their entire training,” she said, and she finished her speech by turning to me with a smug smile on her lips.
She was smiling because she knew she’d won. I saw my father so rarely, I’d never do anything to deliberately upset him and my mother knew this. I hitched my travelling bag a little further up on my shoulder and clamped my teeth together so hard, my jaw hurt. My mother’s smile widened when I didn’t respond to her and she left me to walk ahead then while she spoke to Mirren about changing my schedule. Even though I had only two weeks until my finals began, I heard my mother tell my tutor she was to make sure I slept for an extra clock turn every night; and I also heard her demand that I was to be served extra food because she’d decided I was looking much too thin as well. Poor Mirren stammered nervous replies to my mother’s strict demands and my mother went on to ask her further questions about my current training schedule. Mirren answered these questions just as nervously.
Evangeline and Jonah left us when they followed a set of stone steps up to the nobleman’s quarters. I watched them go a little wistfully as they climbed the stairs together, but I was obliged to turn to my right where I followed another set of stone steps towards my own rooms which were in the west wing of the Palace.
Both Mirren and my mother followed me up the wide, winding stairs, and we passed narrow windows made of coloured glass blocks that threw long, coloured patches of light across the worn, stone steps. There was a wide, glass block window at the very top of the stairs and I turned into a wide passageway before heading up another flight of narrower stairs to my left. When I reached the top of these stairs, my mother turned in the opposite direction to Mirren and myself, but not before she reminded me to remain in my rooms until her servant arrived to make sure I’d be presentable in time for the ceremony. I didn’t reply, but I nodded wearily, and I followed the passageway gratefully away from my mother as I hurried with Mirren in the opposite direction.
Mirren and I passed more coloured, glass block windows, and we passed mosaic art set into the stones on the walls too, and beneath our feet, woods of different colours were laid together to make patterns on the polished floors. There were stitched, wall hangings on the walls, and gold ornaments sat in alcoves, and we walked past glossy, broad leaved plants which grew in heavy, earthenware pots. When I reached my rooms, I stopped at the adjoining door and showed Mirren the entrance to the tutor’s room. She looked as grateful to be entering her room as I was to be entering mine, and we both closed our doors behind us at almost exactly the same time.
I walked into my rooms slowly and placed my travelling bag on my bed before wandering over to my window. The clear, glass blocks were angled to catch the warmth of the afternoon sun, but the promise of a cool night had already crept into the air. I gazed down at the community square below my rooms. The people of Aldiris were packing up their street stalls and heading home to prepare their evening meals. The streets were quieter, and the sun was preparing to make its way towards the horizon. It would sink behind the rolling hills I could see in the distance. The closely packed city buildings gave way to a patchwork pattern of fields dotted with trees, and I knew our lands stretched far beyond the hills I could see.
A child laughed suddenly in the square below me and his voice carried up to where I
She was smiling because she knew she’d won. I saw my father so rarely, I’d never do anything to deliberately upset him and my mother knew this. I hitched my travelling bag a little further up on my shoulder and clamped my teeth together so hard, my jaw hurt. My mother’s smile widened when I didn’t respond to her and she left me to walk ahead then while she spoke to Mirren about changing my schedule. Even though I had only two weeks until my finals began, I heard my mother tell my tutor she was to make sure I slept for an extra clock turn every night; and I also heard her demand that I was to be served extra food because she’d decided I was looking much too thin as well. Poor Mirren stammered nervous replies to my mother’s strict demands and my mother went on to ask her further questions about my current training schedule. Mirren answered these questions just as nervously.
Evangeline and Jonah left us when they followed a set of stone steps up to the nobleman’s quarters. I watched them go a little wistfully as they climbed the stairs together, but I was obliged to turn to my right where I followed another set of stone steps towards my own rooms which were in the west wing of the Palace.
Both Mirren and my mother followed me up the wide, winding stairs, and we passed narrow windows made of coloured glass blocks that threw long, coloured patches of light across the worn, stone steps. There was a wide, glass block window at the very top of the stairs and I turned into a wide passageway before heading up another flight of narrower stairs to my left. When I reached the top of these stairs, my mother turned in the opposite direction to Mirren and myself, but not before she reminded me to remain in my rooms until her servant arrived to make sure I’d be presentable in time for the ceremony. I didn’t reply, but I nodded wearily, and I followed the passageway gratefully away from my mother as I hurried with Mirren in the opposite direction.
Mirren and I passed more coloured, glass block windows, and we passed mosaic art set into the stones on the walls too, and beneath our feet, woods of different colours were laid together to make patterns on the polished floors. There were stitched, wall hangings on the walls, and gold ornaments sat in alcoves, and we walked past glossy, broad leaved plants which grew in heavy, earthenware pots. When I reached my rooms, I stopped at the adjoining door and showed Mirren the entrance to the tutor’s room. She looked as grateful to be entering her room as I was to be entering mine, and we both closed our doors behind us at almost exactly the same time.
I walked into my rooms slowly and placed my travelling bag on my bed before wandering over to my window. The clear, glass blocks were angled to catch the warmth of the afternoon sun, but the promise of a cool night had already crept into the air. I gazed down at the community square below my rooms. The people of Aldiris were packing up their street stalls and heading home to prepare their evening meals. The streets were quieter, and the sun was preparing to make its way towards the horizon. It would sink behind the rolling hills I could see in the distance. The closely packed city buildings gave way to a patchwork pattern of fields dotted with trees, and I knew our lands stretched far beyond the hills I could see.
A child laughed suddenly in the square below me and his voice carried up to where I
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